Summer 2016

SUMMER 2016

Natural

Iowa

Protecting and restoring Iowa’s land, water and wildlife.

Rediscovering wildness

OPENING THOUGHTS

Saving a place for wildness

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s James Dinsmore noted in the opening of his book “A Country So Full of Game,” Iowa’s early European settlers marvelled at the abundance of wildlife in the state. In 1833, JO E McGOV ERN Indian agent Joseph Street wrote “I had never President rode through a country so full of game.” Iowa’s origins are wild — a land once covered by waving prairie grass, free-flowing water and scattered oak savannas.

Though most of the state has been “tamed” in one way or another, there are still pockets of beautiful, wild land. There is no wilderness, in the strictest sense of the word, but there is wildness. Growing up, I found that wildness tromping with friends through the Boone River valley just outside Eagle Grove. Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation revels in helping people find those wild places and connect to a bit of wildness in themselves.

With your support, we’re able to protect and restore the wild parts of Iowa (and, sometimes, just outside of Iowa). In this issue, you’ll read about places in which we’ve returned wildness. A former golf course.

A closed limestone mine. Continually-flooded cropland. Working with willing landowners and forward-thinking organizations, INHF is turning these places into havens for native plants and wildlife.

Beginning with this issue, we have also expanded the size of the magazine and added a few new regular content features. Thanks to members like you, we have been able to protect more than 150,000 acres in our 37-year history. We want to be better able to share the work that you are helping us to do. So, thank you. I hope you’ll enjoy this magazine, and that you’ll get outdoors to reconnect to wildness.

ON THE COVER A summer sunset illuminates Whorled milkweed and Hoary vervain over the newest addition to Pony Creek Park in Mills County. INHF woked with Mills CCB on the 30-acre addition, which will soon be open to the public.

Photo by Nathan Houck

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Protecting and restoring Iowa’s land, water and wildlife.

OFFI CE

505 Fifth Ave., Suite 444 Des Moines, Iowa 50309 515-288-1846 | info@inhf.org

www.inhf.org STAFF

Joe McGovern President Jodi Baker Finance Director Ross Baxter Land Projects Director Andrea Boulton Trails Coordinator Jered Bourquin Blufflands Assistant Brian Fankhauser Blufflands Director Cheri Grauer Donor Relations Director Diane Graves Administrative Assistant and Receptionist Erin Griffin Development and Events Specialist Lisa Hein Senior Director for Conservation Programs Joe Jayjack Communications Director Heather Jobst Senior Land Conservation Director Melanie Louis Land Stewardship Associate Stacy Nelson Donors Services Manager Anita O’Gara Vice President Andrea Piekarczyk Grants Coordinator Marian E. Riggs Public Policy Director Mary Runkel Volunteer Coordinator Tylar Samuels Conservation Easement Specialist Ryan Schmidt Land Stewardship Director Kerri Sorrell Communications Specialist Tim Sproul Loess Hills Land Conservation Consultant Abby Hade Terpstra Development Specialist Erin Van Waus Conservation Easement Director Kari Walker Administration Director

EDI TORI AL

Joe Jayjack Editor/Publisher Kerri Sorrell Art Director Iowa Natural Heritage is published quarterly by Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation for its members and friends.

Circulation 10,000 Articles appearing in Iowa Natural Heritage may be reprinted with permission of the publisher.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Partners in unlikely places One third of the world’s Indiana bats call a cave outside Hannibal, Mo., home. Through a unique partnership, INHF is helping ensure those bats can remain, safe from human and development pressure.

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IWILL: A homegrown solution As the next legislative session approaches, water quality is in the spotlight. Iowans are ready for a solution, and reflect on the need for funding the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

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Bringing wildness back to Clear Lake Striking a balance between tourism and conservation is vital for Clear Lake’s economic and environmental future.

The Pedelty family is taking steps to convert a former shoreline golf course into a nature and wildlife haven.

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Reconstructing one of Iowa’s largest wetland complexes When consistent flooding turned argicultural returns bleak in the ’90s along the Cedar River, the Wetland Reserve Program helped create one of the largest habitat hubs in the state.

D E PARTM EN TS 2

Opening Thoughts

4

Through Your Lens

6

Field Notes

22 Looking Out for Iowa 23 Get Outdoors

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THROUGH YOUR LENS

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.

We are made of starstuff.”

- Carl Sagan

My RAGBRAI team this year came from all over: Chicago, Denver, Texas, Ames, New York. Each day, they’d share the discoveries they’d made in our state. And each night, as we sat around camp, I’d hear the same thing: “Wow…look at your stars.”

We don’t purport to claim them, but the constellations and cosmos are as much a part of the Iowa landscape as any prairie, field or river. But as we become more urbanized, the vastness of that quintessential Iowa night sky is threatened.

It’s happening nationally, too: Light pollution is impacting wildlife and the way we interact with the natural world.

The International Dark Sky Association aims to combat the trend. They’re working to bring wildness back to Earth’s most important light show — and remind us what we’re all made of.

— KER RI S ORRE L L,

communications specialist

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Learn more about the dark skies movement at www.darksky.org. Find ways you can help on page 22.

The Milky Way appears as the sun goes down over Crawford Creek County Recreation Area in Ida County. Photo by Don Poggensee inhf.o r g

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FIELD NOTES

A fresh look You may have noticed this issue of Iowa Natural Heritage looks a little different — and that it’s a little heavier. Beginning with this issue, we expanded the size of our magazine from 16 pages to 24 pages and introduced new designs and new regular features, such as the Field Notes section

you’re currently reading. This was all done with the goal of keeping you better informed on INHF projects and conservation in Iowa, in a way that conveys its natural beauty. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

— JO E JAYJACK, communications director

INHF BURN SEASON

BY T H E N UM B E R S

852 acres added to Sedan Bottoms Wildlife Management Area Nestled in southern Appanoose County, Sedan Bottoms Wildlife Management Area is a protected paradise. Prairies, oak savannas, forests and floodplains along the Chariton River make up this unique natural haven.

Two recent INHF acquisitions — a 736-acre addition and a 116-acre property — are part of a large land transfer to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources that added 852 acres to the northern part of the WMA. One of the additions is a mix of oak-hickory woodland, grassland and remnant prairie. The land hosts several plant and wildlife species, including milkweed, Indiangrass and the federally endangered Indiana bat. The land, like the rest of Sedan Bottoms, provides ample avian habitat. The site is a Bird Conservation Area (BCA), and several species, including those of Greatest Conservation Need, find a home here. Visitors have the chance to spot one of the 253 species recorded at the BCA, including Red-headed woodpeckers, Cerulean

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INHF staff and interns hike an addition to Sedan Bottoms WMA in Appanoose Co. Photo by Lexi Ruskell

warblers and Bobolinks (pictured below).

The other property lies adjacent to the addition, and restoring it will restore an additional 60 acres to native, upland habitat — which is critical for ground nesting birds. Restoration will also positively impact water quality and reduce soil erosion.

The land is excellent habitat for deer, turkey, neotropical migratory birds and other nongame species.

Both additions are open to the public for hunting, bird-watching, hiking and exploring.

ILLUSTRATION: ANDREA PIEKARCZYK

Once upon a time, Native Americans and lightening storms caused restorative fire to roar across Iowa’s prairied landscape.

These days, INHF and other conservation groups use prescribed fires to replenish and manage local ecosystems. Here’s a look at INHF’s spring of heated restoration:

344 acres treated with prescribed fire

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counties benefited

20 burn days

FIELD NOTES

UPCOMING

EV E N TS SEPT. 1 5

Back to Your Roots Hike Kothenbeutel Prairie, Franklin Co. Learn about native species from Land Stewardship Director Ryan Schmidt as part of Prairie Heritage Week.

SEPT. 1 7

Snyder Farm Seed Harvest Elkhart, Polk Co. Celebrate INHF’s Snyder Farm’s 25th anniversary with a seed harvest, tours and lunch. Spots are limited.

SEPT. 2 4

Turin Prairie Dedication Onawa, Monona Co.

Connecting natural areas Natural Heritage Foundation, the Outdoor Alliance in Iowa Guthrie of Story County County and Story County Conservation Partners, on Tuesday, March 22. Photo by Susan Shullaw

Adjacent to both Springbrook State Park and Springbrook Wildlife Management Area (WMA), a 48-acre addition marries both natural areas. Together, they create a complex of over 1,413 total acres and provide permanent wildlife and woodland habitat.

Springbrook State Park

The addition is high-quality oak-hickory woodland teeming with opportunity. Historic aerial photos indicate that the property was once oak savanna, and after invasive species are removed, the savanna should recover.

Many native species have been found on or near the property, including Porcupine grass, the federally endangered Indiana bat and the state-endangered barn owl. The land is also part of the Southern Iowa Drift Plain, and thus its tallgrass prairie with steep hills and valleys support many game species.

The area is open to the public, and it is an excellent site for bird-watching, exploring, hunting or just enjoying time in nature.

Springbrook Wildlife Management Area

An addition to both Springbrook State Park and Springbrook WMA in Guthrie County, shown in yellow, connects the two natural areas. The addition is now open to the public.

Help us dedicate the exquisite Turin Prairie in the Loess Hills, now open to the public, with bird hikes, a program and a seed harvest.

INHF awarded grant for Monarch work

OC T. 1

Friends and Family Seed Harvest Heritage Valley, Allamakee Co. See northeast Iowa’s fall beauty during this familyfriendly event.

OC T. 1

Seed Harvest and Cider Perkins Prairie Preserve, Greene Co. Join us for a seed harvest, followed by a trip to Dean’s Apple Orchard.

For more information, visit www.inhf.org.

“Conservation is never the effort of one person, it’s the effort of many people together willing to get their hands in the dirt.”

— TAYLO R D I D E S C H

2016 Summer Statewide Land Stewardship intern

This summer, 13 college students used their time and talents to restore Iowa’s wild places. The INHF land stewardship interns, made up of 9 statewide and 4 Blufflands interns, spend 12 weeks doing intense restoration work throughout the state and receive educational experiences to help progress their conservation and natural resource knowledge.

INHF is administering a $250,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s (NFWF) Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund. The 2015-2016 grant allows for the expansion and restoration of Iowa native prairie habitat along two main corridors: I-35 in central Iowa and the Loess Hills of western Iowa. INHF has been working with many partners to permanently protect land, construct new prairie habitat, remove invasive species and improve existing prairie habitat.

The goal is to create large blocks of permanently protected habitat for monarchs and other pollinators, along with smaller “connecting” pieces on both public and private land. INHF and our partners have applied for grant funding from NFWF for 2017-2018. inhf.o r g

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PHOTO: KRISTY HALL

Working for conservation action This legislative session, Iowa’s natural resources are at the top of the priority list.

BY M ARIAN E. RIGG S

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t the start of the 2016 legislative session, Gov. Terry Branstad announced a proposal to address water quality that he called his biggest and boldest proposal ever, but it did not find support from both chambers. After several other proposals, the session adjourned without reaching a compromise on how to best address these concerns.

Between now and the November election, Iowans have an opportunity to make our natural resources an issue on which candidates must take a position.

At Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, we are focused on all of Iowa’s natural resources: from keeping our agricultural soils in place to improving habitat for fish and wildlife; from building and maintaining recreational trails to protecting and improving Iowa’s water quality.

Water quality is about protecting the source waters from contamination so that they are

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clean for drinking as well as for habitat and recreation. It is about Iowa’s quality of life.

We believe that Iowa already has a solution that was vetted by the voters in 2010. Now we need legislative action to increase the state sales tax by 3/8th of one cent to start funding the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

Once funded, the Trust Fund will generate approximately $180 million annually that is constitutionally protected. These funds will be distributed according to a formula that ensures the money supports Iowa’s natural resource base from the municipal level to the state level.

These funds will support Iowa’s quality of life, improve our wildlife habitat to generate the economic activity that is associated with hunting, fishing and biking, and help to ensure that Iowa’s young people remain in Iowa and we can meet our future workforce needs.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Legislators need to hear from their constituents that they support increasing the sales tax by 3/8th of a cent to fund the Trust Fund. It is never easy to raise the sales tax and it won’t happen until they know that their constituents support it.

Go to a legislative forum, invite your friends and family to go with you, and ask your legislator or candidate if they would support increasing the sales tax to support our natural resources.

A letter, an email or a call is also a great way to let your legislators know that you support funding the Trust Fund.

Visit iowaswaterandlandlegacy.org to learn more about the Trust Fund and find resources to help you talk to your legislators.

IOWANS: THE SOLUTION IS THE TRUST FUND

CHRIS L E E

“If we don’t create the parks and build the necessary amenities people need when they visit them, where will those people go to make the kinds of memories that can only be made in the great outdoors? It is incumbent upon us to care for our natural resources. Does it require investment?

Certainly. But it’s an investment in ourselves. In our families. In our futures. The best time to act was when the trust was first established. We’d be nearly a billion dollars better off today if we had.

But the second best time to act is now. Leave a legacy. Fund the Trust. Now.”

Executive Director, Des Moines County Conservation

“Passing a sales tax increase to fund natural resource protection is perhaps the most important action we can take to secure a healthy and productive future for Iowa. This critical step will build on the legacy of stewardship begun last century by Iowa leaders like Ding Darling, Henry Wallace and Aldo Leopold. New state funds are essential to help us reverse the shameful levels of soil loss, water quality degradation and habitat destruction now being experienced in some parts of our state.“ NE I L H A M I LTO N

Emeritus Director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University Law School Board member, INHF

“When we talk about real progress for healthy streams and rivers in Iowa, we know we have to look at the big picture. Funding the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund would make complex natural resource management with an emphasis in water quality improvement a reality for our state. Iowa is the most altered state in the U.S. and roughly half of our rivers, lakes and streams fail to meet water quality standards. Steady revenue means more projects affecting more communities and more opportunities for all of us to work together to protect, restore and enjoy Iowa’s rivers.”

“As a millennial who recently returned to Iowa to plant roots and pursue a career in telecommunications, I hold both a personal and a professional stake in the funding of the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund.

From a professional perspective, funding the trust would provide the recreation and quality of life to bring other millennials — and their skilled, economically stimulating jobs — back to Iowa.

From a personal perspective, I want my future children and grandchildren to be able to hunt, fish, hike, bike, and kayak and to experience the joy of stewarding that which God has entrusted to us.

This can’t wait any longer.”

MO LLY HA NS O N Executive Director, Iowa Rivers Revival

CHRIS LOV ELL

Business Development Manager, CL Tel

“How much longer do we have to wait to get dedicated, long term funding to implement the Nutrient Reduction Strategy? We have determined that IWILL (the Trust Fund) is the solution that will provide the significant resources necessary to expand the efforts already underway KIRK LEED S to protect and restore CEO, Iowa Soybean our natural resources Association and continue to provide those resources year in and year out. I have four children, and I believe it is important for Iowa to invest additional resources to improve our quality of life and recreational opportunities so that our kids want to stay in Iowa to raise their families.”

“We are well on the way to having a number of effective Iowa water solutions. What is missing is revenue in amounts essential to achieving the “critical mass” necessary to make public-private partnerships feasible.

A good start would be funding The Natural JIM ER B Resources and Outdoor Mayor, Charles City Recreation Trust Fund.

That funding alone would make us a serious player in moving these solutions forward up and down Iowa watersheds.”

“The Greater Des Moines Partnership is a strong supporter of the Iowa’s Water and Land Legacy Coalition. The Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund would provide a permanent funding source to implement the recommendations of the Iowa Soil and Water Future Task Force JAY BYERS CEO, Greater Des Moines and the Iowa Nutrient Partnership Reduction Strategy to significantly improve water quality across our state. It also would help fund trails and other outdoor recreational amenities that are critical to attracting and retaining a high quality workforce.” inhf.o r g

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wild

WHER E T H E

T HIN G S WER E

Pre-settlement, the Clear Lake area was a wildlife haven. Now in one of the most popular tourism spots in the state, INHF is helping to restore a measure of wildness.

BY CHERI GRAUER

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One of Iowa’s most popular tourist destinations, Clear Lake has seen agriculture and development impact surrounding wild areas.

Ongoing protection efforts aim to enhance Clear Lake’s long-term health. Photo by Tim Ackarman

e

arly accounts of Clear Lake, a spring-fed lake with origins in the last glacial period, tell of its use as a favorite summer camping ground of the Sioux and Winnebago peoples. By the mid1800s, tales of the beautiful lake with plentiful fish and wildlife had captured the attention and imagination of Euro-American settlers.

In short order, what had been a wild and vast wetland-pocked prairie ecosystem, replete with a dizzying array of native plants and animals, was being domesticated.

An 1895 Cerro Gordo County plat book depicts the parceling of the land surrounding the lake for agricultural purposes. By the early 1900s more and more land was being tiled to enhance drainage. The peatlands in the area, high in organic matter and perennially wet, were especially difficult to farm and especially productive once drained. Advances in tile drainage seemingly removed the last limitation to agricultural intensification in this part of the state.

The “town end” of Clear Lake quickly boasted hotels, then restaurants with big dance floors, a casino and later an amusement park. Houses and summer cottages began to sprout up along the shoreline. Clear Lake State Park, featuring picnic areas and a swimming beach, was created for public use and enjoyment. Clear Lake was fast becoming a favorite summer playground for tourists and year-round residents alike. Over time, more intensive and extensive agriculture, more inhf.o r g

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Restoration on the Pedelty property, a former golf course, will see restored wetland, prairie and savanna and will benefit the area’s many bird and non-game species. Photo by Ross Baxter, INHF

“I can remember canoeing and water skiing through mats of algae.”

residential development on the lakeshore and growing recreational use of the lake pushed even harder against the remaining wildlife and wildlife habitat.

The bulrush beds began to recede, shoreline erosion increased, nutrients entering the lake from agricultural lands compromised water quality and upland bird populations declined with the continued loss of nesting habitat in the surrounding countryside.

These wake-up calls alerted people to the importance of natural habitat for both wildlife and for human well-being. In particular, residents of Clear Lake became more aware of the connection between protecting and restoring wetland and other natural habitats and enhancing water quality. Conservation

- MARK PEDELTY

organizations and concerned individuals stepped up to respond — which brings us to a very recent effort to reclaim some wildness for the Clear Lake region.

Restoring a wild place

Early in 2015, the Pedelty family approached INHF to see if together we could reclaim a little more wildness on the south side of Clear Lake.

A portion of a farm previously owned by Holmes, Jane (Duesenberg) Pedelty, Jo Pedelty, and her sons HJ and Adam Pedelty, had for 30 years been leased to a local family for use as a par three golf course. Growing awareness of local water quality concerns — and of the importance of wetlands to water quality — led the Pedelty family to reconsider that use.

R ESTOR ING A MEAS URE

O F WILDNES S 1 9 24

Lekwa Wildlife Management Area established

EARLY 1 9 00s –1 9 4 0

Establishment of McIntosh State Park on north side of the lake

Multiple additions to Ventura Marsh Wildlife Management Area

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1925

Creation of Clear Lake State Park on the south shore of Clear Lake

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Association for the Preservation of Clear Lake creates a sanitary sewer system and district around the lake to address pollution issues

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1972

Donation of Woodford Island by the Ashland family to the State of Iowa and establishment of the McIntosh Marsh Wildlife Management Area

1985

Purchase by The Nature Conservancy of a 36-acre wet prairie known as Hoffman Prairie — home to 150 native plant species and rare butterflies

1992

Donation of a conservation easement by Jim and Marcia Connell and family to INHF permanently protects WoodfordAshland Lone Tree Point, which includes wetlands and more than a mile of shoreline

1995P RES ENT

CLEAR (Clear Lake Enhancement and Restoration) Project, a community-led project to improve the lake’s water quality

Sharing some of his family history, Mark Pedelty related that both the Pedelty and Duesenberg families have had a long connection with Clear Lake.

“Like other Clear Lake families, our lives revolved around the lake when I was growing up. When I was a kid there was nothing better than jumping into the lake after a day of working at the family cattle auction market.

On the less positive side, I remember canoeing and water skiing through mats of algae back when we were letting too much phosphorous from fertilizers and other pollutants stream into the lake. Given how central the lake was to all of us then, water quality as well as lake recreation is very important to us now.”

Pedelty went on to note, “The community and local stewards have done a great job of cleaning up Clear Lake in recent years.

Restoring and reconnecting another wetland might help that effort. We are thankful that organizations like INHF and the Iowa DNR are around to do this important work. We’d like to be part of that local work.”

According to T.J. Herrick, Iowa DNR wildlife biologist, once INHF transfers this property to the Iowa DNR, the process of turning the Pedelty family’s vision into reality will begin.

The Iowa DNR will reconstruct a five to eightacre wetland basin and will restore native prairie and savanna in the upland portions of the property. The area will be managed for wildlife and available for public use and enjoyment.

When restored, the wetland, prairie and

20 0 1

Lake restoration feasability study completed by ISU

20 0 2

INHF works with four families to protect and expand the 60-acre Miller’s Marsh on Clear Lake’s south side

2 00 3

INHF works with the Lovell family to restore prairie and wetlands at the 190-acre Sisters Prairie adjacent to the Lone Tree Point conservation easement property

2 00 4

Purchase of one of the last undeveloped shorelines and 26 acres of woodland and wetland habitat near the Ventura Grade by INHF and conservation partners, creating the Ventura Cove Woodland

savanna will complement the many other efforts that have helped retain or return elements of wildness to Clear Lake.

“We look forward to seeing this 60-acre parcel restored to wetland as it was before the ’80s, before it was tiled and partially drained.

Once restored, it will again provide essential environmental services, including filtering the water entering Clear Lake,” Pedelty said.

“We want the wetland to once again provide habitat for birds and other wildlife, while also offering some recreational opportunities for local residents and visitors to the lake, such as birding and hiking and a convenient connection to the state park, just across the street.”

A look at wider protection efforts around Clear Lake.

Pedelty property Public access Private protection

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Max Clausen donates his 250acre farm adjacent to Lone Tree Point, including 2,750 feet of undeveloped shoreline, known now as Clausen’s Cove, to The Nature Conservancy

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Lake restoration dredging takes place

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Ventura Marsh restored

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INHF works with the Pedelty family to protect and restore wetlands on a 60-acre parcel which neighbors Lekwa Wildlife Management Area and Clear Lake State Park

2016

CLEAR Project partners with Iowa DNR to begin an oak savanna restoration on approximately 16 acres of forested area within McIntosh Woods State Park

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IN THE

midnight HOUR

A rare opportunity to protect a federally endangered and native Iowa bat species pushes INHF beyond state borders.

W

alking into the dark, yawning entrance of the enormous cave system in Hannibal, Missouri, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation Conservation Easement Director Erin Van Waus was not quite sure what to expect.

Accompanied by INHF President Joe McGovern and staff members from The Conservation Fund (TCF), Van Waus entered the caves through their largest

BY ANDREA PIEKARCZYK

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A former limestone mine just outside the city of Hannibal, Mo., the newly-protected cave system has 34 openings, all featuring custom-designed, bat-friendly gates. The property was protected as part of a mitigation package for the Flanagan South Pipeline Project. Photo courtesy of The Conservation Fund

Sodalis Nature Preserve entrance: a gaping maw in the side of a hill, large enough for two trucks to drive into side by side.

McGovern and Van Waus’ trip to Missouri was at the invitation of TCF, which had requested INHF’s assistance with an unusual and exciting project: protecting a former limestone mine providing hibernation habitat for an estimated 168,000 Indiana bats — one third of the known population of this federally endangered species. It is the largest maternal colony of Indiana bats in the world, making the caves’ protection of critical importance.

Around the time of the caves’ discovery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) personnel were negotiating a unique and precedentsetting mitigation package for the Flanagan South Pipeline Project that runs from Illinois

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to Oklahoma through Missouri. The USFWS established measures for avoiding and minimizing impacts to bat and migratory bird habitat from the 600-mile pipeline. Where habitat destruction was unavoidable, the Service worked with the energy company to establish a $22 million fund to compensate for the habitat loss.

The USFWS partnered with TCF to implement a major land protection and restoration program using these funds to benefit migratory birds and threatened and endangered species, including Indiana bats.

TCF is a nonprofit that operates on a national scale to advance both conservation goals and economic development. The protection of the former Lime Kiln Mine in Hannibal was chosen as the highest priority project because of its significance to Indiana bats.

Marion County, Mo.

INHF holds the conservation easement on the property on the southern end of Hannibal, Mo., city limits.

LAND: 185 acres SPECIAL FEATURES: Cave system, woodland PARTNERS: INHF, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Conservation Fund, City of Hannibal, Mo.

After nearly a year of negotiations, TCF was able to purchase the main body of the mine and the surrounding 185 acres of gently rolling woodland. It is, Van Waus later noted, “truly amazing that a place so beautiful and important [for a species like the Indiana bat] could come from something as intrusive as limestone mining.” Together, the project partners decided to rename the Lime Kiln Mine complex after the scientific name for the Indiana bat, Myotis sodalis. They decided to call it Sodalis Nature Preserve.

The world’s leading bat gate designer, Jerry Fant of Karst Solutions, was hired to build bat-friendly gates across each of the caves’ 34 entrances. From the great, yawning mouth to the smallest of crevices, each opening was protected with a custom-designed gate. Cave systems are fragile and complex, so it was necessary to preserve the airflow into the tunnels while also protecting the bats from human intrusion.

Sending out the bat signal

Because of the incredible importance of the Sodalis Nature Preserve hibernaculum, TCF was seeking multiple layers of protection to preserve the area in its natural state. Since TCF does not hold property, the first challenge was finding an entity willing to own the caves and surrounding land. The City of Hannibal embraced the opportunity with gusto.

TCF Midwest Project Director Clint Miller, the driving force behind the project, approached INHF to hold a conservation easement on the property. This easement ensures that the Sodalis Nature Preserve will be permanently safeguarded from development, while still allowing local use of trails in the surrounding woodland and giving USFWS access to the bat caves for research purposes. Miller was particularly excited by this opportunity to have “public recreation and endangered species conservation both benefiting from the same effort.” The two, he

A gate crafted into the cave’s limestone walls keeps human visitors away but allows bats to fly in and out with ease. Keeping the cave secluded from human presence is especially important during hibernation season.

Photo by Erin Van Waus, INHF

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Beyond the cave system and the habitat benefits it provides, Sodalis Nature Preserve sits on 185 acres of woodland on the southern end of Hannibal city limits and includes more than two miles of trails. The Preserve offers research and recreational opportunities for scientists, city residents and visitors. Photo courtesy of The Conservation Fund

said, “can be complimentary.”

And the residents of Hannibal proved exactly that, quickly falling in love with the bats as well as the new space for recreation. At a spring event focused on the end of the bats’ hibernation season, waiting crowds cheered the first tiny animal as it fluttered forth from the mouth of the cave, through the bat gate and into the twinkling twilight.

To gain a fuller sense of the project, McGovern and Van Waus traveled to Hannibal to meet with the project partners and see the caves for themselves. The cave system at Sodalis Nature Preserve is man-made, blasted into the landscape by the dynamite used by limestone miners. The tunnels are a vast, twisting maze of caverns and crevices that

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follow no natural logic.

What Van Waus remembers most vividly is the darkness. “Walking into that, it’s amazing how quickly you can get into complete darkness,” she recalled. “You don’t realize that it’s happening because you have a flashlight…

But only 100 yards in, everything is completely black.”

The group moved quietly, so as not to disturb the hibernating bats. Playing flashlight beams across the cavern ceilings above, the explorers soon found what they were looking for: small clusters of Indiana bats, huddled closely together. Well, relatively small — each grouping contained 100-300 of the bats, and they can cluster in the thousands. The bats seen that day represent only a small portion of the colony at Sodalis Nature Preserve, which numbers in the hundreds of thousands.

Why INHF?

But why INHF? We are, after all, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and Sodalis Nature

The Sodalis Nature Preserve houses an estimated 168,000 hibernating Indiana bats — one third of the world’s known population.

Indiana bats migrate up to 200 miles from their chosen hibernacula. Many of the bats that live and breed in Iowa are likely to originate from Sodalis Nature Preserve.

Dubuque

Waterloo

Cedar Rapids Iowa City

Des Moines

Davenport

Ottumwa

200

mile

s

Indiana bat migration area Public land in Iowa

Preserve is in Missouri. The reasons are twofold. First and foremost, TCF needed a strong and stable land trust to hold the conservation easement and bat gate maintenance fund. When considering regional partners, Miller was attracted by INHF’s “long history, accredited status and experience dealing with complicated projects.” He said, “I had high confidence in INHF handling such an important project.”

INHF staff and board members believe the protection of the preserve significantly impacts Iowa wildlife, despite its location in Missouri.

Indiana bats may migrate up to 200 miles from their hibernacula, which means that many of the Sodalis bats fly to Iowa to live and breed during the rest of the year.

Sodalis Nature Preserve was born from innovation, perseverance and, most of all, partnership. Appropriately, while sodalis is the species name of the Indiana bat, it is also the Latin word for “companion.” INHF is grateful for new friends in unusual places who invite us to greater challenges and opportunities to protect Iowa and its wildlife.

Hannibal/ Sodalis Nature Preserve

ILLUSTRATION: ANDREA PIEKARCZYK

FAST FACTS IN D IA N A B ATS Bats can get a bad reputation as blood-sucking, disease-carrying pests, but for the Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) these myths couldn’t be farther from the truth. These cute creatures have dark brown fur, small ears and a wingspan stretching nearly a foot, and are an important native species.

The bat’s Latin name, Myotis sodalis, refers to the species small, mouse-like ears (Myotis = mouse ear) and their tendency to cluster together (sodalis = companion).

Indiana bats eat up to half their body weight in insects every night.

The bats are endangered for many reasons, including their tendency to cluster and hibernate together. When thousands of bats reside in the same cave, it makes it easier for one disturbance or disease to wipe out a significant portion of the population.

inhf.o r g

19

A win for

WILDLIFE landowners

&

Big Marsh Wildlife Management Area Butler County

LAND: Currently 6,100 acres, with INHF preparing to transfer more to the Iowa DNR SPECIAL FEATURES: Restored wetlands, timber and grassland PARTNERS: INHF, Iowa DNR, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Butler County Conservation Board

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Iowa Natural Heritage

SUM M E R 2 0 1 6

Roll in

DUMONT

g Pr

airie

Trai l

ALLISON

W

BY JOE JAYJACK

ETLANDS EXIST IN THE MIDDLE. The transition between upland and bodies of water. The sponge, or filter, for water as it loses elevation and makes its way into our rivers and lakes.

Wetlands are vital to water quality and home to wildlife, including most of Iowa’s threatened and endangered species. Prior to European settlement, wetlands covered 4 to 6 million acres, or about 11 percent of Iowa’s surface area. In the last 150 years, nearly 95 percent of those wetlands have been drained for agriculture or development.

Today, one of the largest wetland complexes in the state is Big Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Butler County, managed by the Iowa DNR. Spreading out along the floodplain of the West Fork Cedar River downstream from Dumont, Big Marsh encompasses more than 6,000 acres. Adjacent public land makes the complex more than 7,000 acres of protected habitat. But it wasn’t always that way. Most of Big Marsh is made up of restored grassland and wetlands — former agricultural land that has been returned to its more natural state.

Restoration in the area is focused around the Iowa-Cedar Headwaters Wetland Initiative, a partnership project of the Iowa DNR, the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that aims to protect and restore wetlands near the headwaters of the Iowa and Cedar rivers. In 2012, USFWS provided a $3.8 million grant that allowed landowners in the area to enroll in the Wetland Reserve Program, a voluntary program that allows landowners to protect or restore wetlands on their property that are often in marginal agricultural areas.

“It was such a popular program with the landowners, that within about six to eight Blue-winged teal are frequent nesters in the Big Marsh complex and are one of the first ducks to migrate south for the winter. Photo by Joe Jayjack, INHF

West Fork Cedar River

Current INHF holding Former INHF project Public land

weeks, that $3.8 million was gone,” said Jason Auel, the DNR Wildlife Biologist in the region.

“Landowners were sick and tired of fighting the river and getting flooded out. It used to be that seven out of 10 years they could get a crop.

Then starting in the ’90s when it got wetter, they were lucky to get a crop two to three times out of 10 years.”

Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation has played an important role in purchasing land from willing landowners that were enrolled in WRP, which is now called Wetlands Reserve Easement. Those landowners often used the money to buy more productive agricultural land elsewhere. INHF would then hold the property until the Iowa DNR could purchase it.

INHF has worked on 15 projects in the complex in the last five years, helping to expand the protected land in and around Big Marsh by more than 2,300 acres. In 2015 alone, INHF purchased five sites totaling more than 500 acres that will eventually transfer to the Iowa DNR. “There are only a handful of places in the state that have more than 7,000 acres of public wildlife habitat,” said Ross Baxter, land projects director at INHF. Big Marsh is a major stopover for migrating waterfowl, and has a healthy population of deer and pheasant, making it a popular spot for hunters. The complex also includes three waterfowl refuge areas totaling about 350 acres, and is home to river otters and Blanding’s turtles, a state threatened species.

“All this additional ground has created more area for recreation and more habitat for wildlife,” Auel said. “It’s exciting to see a rebound in some of our animal populations.”

WETLANDS RESERVE PROGRAM (Now known as Wetlands Reserve Easement) • A nationwide voluntary program • Offers payment, based on agricultural value, for restored wetlands that have previously been drained and converted to agricultural uses.

• Pays up to 100 percent reimbursement for restoration costs.

• Lets landowners retain control of access and maintain ownership of land.

• Allows for land to be sold, subject to a permanent easement.

• Provides additional benefits of improved water quality, enhanced habitat for wildlife, reduced soil erosion, reduced flooding and improved water supply.

For more information on wetland easements in Iowa, contact the Iowa NRCS office at 855-261-3544 or visit www.nrcs.usda. gov/programs/wrp/ inhf.o r g

21

LOOKI NG OU T F OR IOWA

LEAVIN G A L EGACY

C O N S E RVAT I O N T I P

Lorenzen bequest provides $100,000 of annual support

Reduce light pollution to help nature’s nocturnal creatures Take a step outside and you’ll notice that the blanket of night may no longer be quite so dark. Light pollution, or the inappropriate use of artificial light at night, makes it more difficult to see the natural night sky. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, bats, moths, owls and other nocturnal critters are forced to change their behavior when artificial light shines.

Artificial light can impact a nocturnal creature’s vision, breeding cycle and migration pattern.

It was a day like any other, until we opened the mail.

That’s when Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation learned the surprising magnitude of the legacy that long-time member Frederick Jens Lorenzen of Davenport provided for Iowa conservation.

As an outdoor writer for the Quad-City Times, and through three decades of voluntary leadership on the Scott County Conservation Board, Lorenzen devoted himself to local conservation. His estate reflected his values: He directed 10 percent to the Wapsi River Environmental Education Center and 30 percent to Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.

INHF invested his bequest for lasting support.

Fred Lorenzen served for more than 30 years on the Scott County Conservation Board. His bequest to INHF is providing lasting support to Scott County and beyond. Photo courtesy of Scott County Conservation Board

“INHF is something we should have had 75 years ago. Good works such as yours have been needed a long time.”

— FRED LORENZEN

Could Fred have imagined his impact? His bequest is providing $100,000 in flexible support to our mission — this year, next year, every year. With this sure support, Fred continues to make INHF more able and confident to take on what needs to be done. We can all be deeply grateful to Fred.

— AN ITA O’GA RA, vice presisdent

There are a few steps we can take to reduce the effects of light pollution, including turning off unnecessary lights. For lights that must stay on, the FWC recommends mounting low to minimize light trespass, shielding the bulb or lens that is giving off light and using long wavelength light sources, like ambers and reds.

Not only can light pollution make it harder to view stars at night, it can also affect the behavior of nocturnal animals. Photo by Nathan Houck

A fund for Iowa’s wild places The Wild Places Trust Fund supports INHF’s ability to serve as the permanent home for specific Iowa lands that are set aside for the benefit of wild things. The fund makes it possible for INHF Wild Places to be financially self-sustaining — even when these lands produce no income. To learn more about how you can contribute to the Wild Places Trust Fund, contact Anita O’Gara at 515-288-1846, ext. 18, or aogara@inhf.org.

TRIBUTE GI F TS IN HONOR OF Pam Abarr Paul and Jeannette Davis Bill Dodson Bob Elzer Cathy Irvine Pat & Paul Johnson Jan Lovell Bruce Mountain Benji Nichols & John Wilmes Rand and Mary Louise Petersen

22

Iowa Natural Heritage

Brad Rottler Barb Schroeder Wendy Tripp Marie Zakeer IN MEMORY OF Frances Benson Richard Brown Steve Christensen Andrew Crane Charlie Cutler Randy Delagardelle

SUM M E R 2 0 1 6

Wade Franck Ron Glanville Patricia Goldsberry Linn A. Hall Duane Hanson Estelle Hetzler David Irvine Wade Jones George Ladd Gene Mahr Ronald D. McGrew Roland & Virgnia Nelson

Darlene J. O’Brien Denny Reynolds Judge W. Ward Reynoldson Bernard Roesler James E. Sabelka Bob “Schmitty” Schmitt Darrell C. Shaefer Alex Sharer Kent Sheeley Claude & Lois Smith Susan Standley Donna Stark

Bart Steele Lorraine Strack Johnny Struthers Mary Sytsma Murry & Lizzie Sytsma Tulsa Jim Unsworth Robert H. Van Zante Dean Wagner Bernard Wendel Fern Willand

GET OUTDOORS

Find more Iowa places to explore at www.inhfblog.org Nahant Marsh — once a shooting range — provides a perfect landscape for education programs, popular with many Davenport-area schoolchildren. Photo courtesy of Nahant Marsh

An oasis brought to life

BY KATIE B AN D U R S K I

N

estled within the bustling city of Davenport is a 265-acre environmental haven. For over 400 plant species and numerous animals, birds, fish and insects, Nahant Marsh is home. But it hasn’t always been the protected oasis it is today.

Between 1969 and the late 1990s, a part of Nahant Marsh was owned by the Quad Cities Trap and Skeet Club. Although an escape for recreational shooters, the range proved dangerous for wildlife. Most of the lead shot ended up in the marsh, and as time wore on, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began to observe sick and dying waterfowl.

With the help of many partners, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation was able to acquire the initial Nahant Marsh property and has assisted with several additions.

“It’s the largest intact wetland on the upper Mississippi,” Brian Ritter, executive director of Nahant Marsh said, “and it’s amazing it’s in the city limits of Davenport because most wetlands, even near the edge of town, were destroyed.”

The rare marsh combines a variety of different ecosystems, including sand prairie, mesic prairie and sedge meadow, Ritter said.

Differences in elevation and soil types allow for

a greater variety of plant and animal life, including the state threatened Blanding’s turtle and Copperbelly water snake.

Visitors can spend a day exploring the wild preserve, biking, hiking or watching for one of the over 150 species of birds that flock to Nahant. The marsh’s interpretive education center makes it a popular destination for school groups and nature lovers of all ages.

Attendance to the marsh and its educational programs has risen in recent years — attracting nearly 15,000 people this year. “There’s a huge importance in getting people connected with nature,” Ritter said, “because if they don’t learn to love it, they won’t love to protect it.”

ILLUSTRATION: ANDREA PIEKARCZYK

NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE

PAID DES MOINES, IA PERMIT NO. 1713

505 5th Ave., Suite 444 Des Moines, IA 50309

Eastern Gray tree frogs, found from the southern United States to eastern Nebraska to southern Canada, are most easily spotted during the summer months. These nocturnal creatures live high in woodland trees and shrubs but move lower toward wetland shores during their breeding season. They vary from molted gray to light green in color, and are able to change their skin color to blend with the surrounding environment.

Leave a legacy of clean water, healthy soil and beautiful outdoor places for those who follow.

To see how estate giving through INHF can help make your vision for Iowa a reality, contact Cheri Grauer at cgrauer@inhf.org or 515-288-1846.

PHOTO: DON POGGENSEE